How buying a LOTSSS lot works

From a signed purchase agreement to a recorded deed, roughly 30 days is typical: the title search comes back in about a week, closing is scheduled around day 14 to 21, and the county records the deed within the following days.

The county recording office sets the last part of that pace, so it is a range and not a guarantee. A title issue found during the search extends it.

No step of the process requires you to stand on the parcel. The record that matters — the parcel number, the recorded zoning, the title search — is public and can be read from anywhere.

That said, a visit, or someone you trust visiting for you, tells you things the record does not: what the access road is really like, what the neighbours are doing, how the ground drains. It is worth considering, not required.

Yours — personally, or in the name of a company you control, whichever you instruct before the deed is prepared. The deed is recorded in the county's public record, and the recorded copy is sent to you after closing.

Which of the two is better for you depends on your tax residence, your estate planning, and your own country's rules. That is a question for your adviser, not for a seller.

The recurring cost on vacant land is the annual county property tax. The amount depends on the county's assessed value and its millage rate for that year, so it is looked up per parcel rather than quoted as a rule.

Some parcels also carry association or district assessments. Whether yours does is visible in the title search, which is one of the reasons the search happens before you are committed to close.

Yes. Once the deed is recorded in your name you can sell, gift, or transfer the parcel like any other owner, subject to whatever is recorded against it.

Land is not a liquid asset, though. A sale takes as long as it takes to find a buyer, and the price you get is the price the market offers then — not the price you paid, and not any figure shown in a projection on this site.

U.S. federal law does not impose a general citizenship or residency requirement for owning real property. Ownership is governed principally by state law, and federal law addresses foreign ownership through targeted regimes rather than a general prohibition: withholding on sale, disclosure of agricultural holdings, and national-security review of certain property near military installations and ports.

That is a different statement from "there are no restrictions". State-level restrictions exist and are real — the two states LOTSSS sells in are covered in the next answer.

Florida restricts purchases by "foreign principals" connected to seven designated countries of concern — China, Russia, Iran, North Korea, Cuba, the Maduro regime in Venezuela, and Syria. The restriction turns on domicile, not on nationality, and separate rules cover agricultural land, property within 10 miles of a military installation or critical infrastructure, and — for the People's Republic of China specifically — any real property in the state. A natural person who is a foreign principal may buy one residential property of up to 2 acres under conditions, and must register with the Florida Department of Commerce within 30 days, with a civil penalty of $1,000 per day for late registration.

Mississippi has two separate provisions. The Foreign Land Ownership Act, in force since 1 July 2024, restricts holdings of forest and agricultural land by nationals and entities of countries designated foreign adversaries; it does not reach residential or vacant urban lots. Separately, Miss. Code Ann. § 89-1-23 provides that non-resident aliens may acquire and hold not more than five acres for residential purposes, that land held contrary to the section escheats to the state, and that property held in the name of a corporation, LLC or similar entity is excepted. The scope of that section after its 2024 amendment is not settled on the face of the statute — take Mississippi counsel before structuring a purchase.

Every U.S. closing involves sanctions screening. U.S. persons — including title companies and settlement agents — may not deal in property in which a person blocked under OFAC sanctions has an interest, and a U.S. person holding blocked real property must report it to OFAC within 10 business days. The closing agent runs the screening, and it applies to every buyer regardless of nationality.

In Florida there is a second, universal step: every buyer of real property must sign an affidavit at closing confirming their status under the foreign-principal statute. It is not aimed at buyers from any particular country — everyone signs it.

Only if the land is agricultural. AFIDA requires a foreign person who acquires or transfers an interest in U.S. agricultural land to file Form FSA-153 with the USDA Farm Service Agency within 90 days, and penalties for a violation can reach 25 percent of the fair market value of the interest.

The regulation defines agricultural land as land used for forestry production, or land currently used — or, if currently idle, last used within the past five years — for farming, ranching or timber production. A platted residential lot that has never been farmed and produces no agricultural or timber income does not meet that definition and is not reportable.

No. FIRPTA withholding applies when a foreign person sells a U.S. real property interest, not when one buys. On a sale by a foreign seller it is the buyer who is the withholding agent and must generally withhold 15 percent of the amount realized. Buying from a U.S. seller creates no FIRPTA obligation for you on that purchase.

It matters on the way out. When you later resell, you are the foreign seller, and FIRPTA applies to you. Two narrower rules exist — no withholding at or below $300,000, and 10 percent up to $1,000,000 — but both require an individual buyer with definite plans to reside at the property, and neither is available to an entity buyer. On a vacant lot, that combination rarely holds.

Not merely to buy and hold. An ITIN is issued by the IRS for federal tax purposes only. Buying and passively holding vacant land — with no U.S.-source income and no U.S. return to file — does not by itself create a requirement to obtain one; the regulation listing when a foreign person must furnish a taxpayer identifying number does not include passive ownership.

You will typically need one when you sell (FIRPTA), when you rent the property out, or when you otherwise have to file a U.S. federal return. Separately, state and county offices may ask for an SSN or ITIN on their own forms, which is their requirement rather than the IRS's.

No. U.S. property tax is a local tax, assessed and collected at county and municipal level and payable annually. There is no different rate and no surcharge because the owner is a foreign national. In Florida the state constitution prohibits any state ad valorem tax on real estate; counties, school districts and municipalities levy it. Property is assessed as of 1 January, tax is due 1 November and becomes delinquent the following 1 April, and unpaid tax is a first lien on the property.

In Mississippi the county assessor appraises the property and the county, municipality and school districts set the millage. Vacant land falls in Class II and is assessed at 15 percent of true value, against 10 percent for single-family owner-occupied homes — a distinction based on use, not on the owner's nationality. What a non-resident owner does not get is a homestead exemption: both states require the property to be the owner's permanent or primary residence on 1 January, and a vacant lot has no residence on it to qualify.

Documents signed outside the United States are normally either notarized by a U.S. consular officer at an embassy or consulate, or notarized before a local notary and then apostilled. Under the Hague Convention of 1961, an apostille issued by the competent authority of the country of origin replaces consular legalisation between contracting parties and covers notarial acts. Brazil, Germany, Spain, Mexico, Argentina, Colombia, Chile, Peru, the United States and most of Latin America are contracting parties. Cuba and Haiti are not.

An apostille certifies only the authenticity of the signature, the capacity of the signatory and the identity of the seal — it does not authenticate the content of the document. For a country that is not a party, the traditional chain of consular legalisation applies instead. Confirm the exact requirement with the closing agent before you sign anything: acceptance of a consular notarial act depends on the law of the state where the deed is recorded.

Either is possible, and no federal law requires a foreign person to use an entity. Florida imposes no citizenship or residency requirement to form an LLC; the only local requirement is a registered agent with a Florida street address. Mississippi is different: § 89-1-23 contains an express exception for property held in the name of a corporation, LLC or similar entity, so the structure can matter there — take Mississippi counsel.

On beneficial ownership reporting: FinCEN adopted a final rule on 14 August 2026 narrowing the Corporate Transparency Act. Under the regulation as now in force, a "reporting company" is only an entity formed under the law of a foreign country and registered to do business in a U.S. state or tribal jurisdiction. A U.S.-formed entity — a Florida LLC, for instance — is not a reporting company and has no beneficial-ownership filing obligation. A foreign-formed entity that registers to do business in a U.S. state does.

No. A land title survey and a Phase I Environmental Site Assessment are industry standards, not federal legal requirements for every land purchase. The ALTA/NSPS Minimum Standard Detail Requirements are published by two private trade associations; the current edition took effect on 23 February 2026, superseding the 2021 one.

ASTM E1527-21 is the Phase I standard the EPA recognises as one that may be used to comply with the All Appropriate Inquiries rule. AAI is not a mandate to investigate before buying — it applies to persons seeking to establish the CERCLA innocent-landowner defence, the bona fide prospective purchaser protection, or the contiguous property owner protection. A buyer who skips it has broken no law; they have simply not preserved those defences. For residential-use property bought by a non-commercial buyer, CERCLA provides that an inspection and a title search revealing no basis for further investigation satisfy the requirement.